House Commission I Assures Cyber Security Bill Will Not Threaten Civil Rights

House Commission I member Junico Siahaan has outlined the urgency of enacting the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill (RUU KKS). Junico assured that the law will protect the rights of civil society.

This statement was made by Nico, as he is familiarly known, while refuting allegations that the RUU KKS would control civilians’ activities in the digital space.

“So we are defending the rights of civil society. This law will focus on defending network systems from external attacks on the Republic of Indonesia’s public sector. It is not about prohibiting civil rights to express opinions,” Nico said during the Seminar on From Digital Attacks to Real Threats: The Urgency of a Cyber Security Legal Framework at UI’s Salemba Campus, Jakarta, on Monday (11/5).

Junico stated that the UU KKS will serve as a good overseer and will not grant over-controlling authority to any institution or civil rights. According to Nico, the RUU KKS is not intended to be a tool for government control.

Nico understands the concerns about government control over cyberspace following recent manoeuvres by the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs.

“Recently, there has been digital space oversight where Komdigi forces the take-down of content on certain websites. That’s probably why many believe this law will violate people’s rights to express opinions. But no, this is about protecting at the upstream level so that civilians can safely express themselves in cyberspace,” Nico said.

According to Nico, the public must realise that cyber attacks do not only target those behind computers. Cyber attacks can threaten people’s basic needs.

“Imagine if a cyber attack targets electricity installations in Indonesia. It’s not just the lights going out, but public services as well. What about hospitals, ICUs, and so on. So cyber attacks can enter all the most basic problems. Therefore, there must be (UU KKS),” Nico said.

There must be a national cyber security coordinator for Indonesia

Furthermore, Nico explained the reasons why the House of Representatives and the government must expedite the enactment of the RUU KKS.

Nico acknowledged that there has been no national coordination framework for managing cyber resilience and security so far. Nico also admitted that there has been no clear division of authority regarding protection from cyber attacks targeting individuals and institutions in Indonesia.

“We also do not have national standards for cyber crisis management and no national obligations regarding cyber resilience. Indonesia also lacks harmonisation between national security and citizens’ digital rights,” Nico said.

On that basis, through the RUU KKS, Nico hopes that the BSSN can become the national coordinator to address these weaknesses.

He said that so far, the practice has been that BSSN, as the leading sector in cyber security, has built infrastructure. However, it is only advisory or merely providing information to ministries and agencies.

The response to BSSN’s advisories then depends on each ministry and agency.

“Our hope is that in the new law, there will be mandatory provisions, so it must be implemented,” he said.

BSSN, continued Nico, besides becoming the national coordinator for national security, must also serve as the national monitoring centre and national incident management centre.

“The RUU KKS must become the foundation for the long-term national cyber resilience architecture with BSSN as the leading sector, which has not been handled by anyone so far.”

Previously, the Indonesian House of Representatives officially received the Presidential Letter regarding the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill (RUU KKS) in March 2024.